1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle cowl portion structure.
2. Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 2009-090928 discloses a vehicle cowl portion structure including a cowl lower panel (a cowl inner panel) that opens toward the vehicle upper side as seen in a side sectional view, a cowl upper panel (a cowl top panel) that is placed at the vehicle upper side of the cowl lower panel, and a cowl reinforcement (a reinforcement) that is placed at the vehicle rear side of the cowl lower panel.
Furthermore, a rear wall portion of the cowl lower panel is bent toward the vehicle rear side and obliquely upward, and a closed cross section is formed by the rear wall portion and the cowl upper panel. When an impact load toward the vehicle lower side is input to the cowl upper panel, the closed cross section becomes crushed to thereby absorb the impact energy. In other words, the area in which the closed cross section (a chamber) is formed is configured as an area that absorbs the impact energy (hereinafter this area will be called “the energy absorption area”).
Furthermore, the cowl reinforcement is formed in a cross-sectionally substantially U-shape that opens toward the vehicle front side, and the upper and lower end portions of the cowl reinforcement are joined to the cowl lower panel at the vehicle lower side of the energy absorption area. Because of this, the vehicle cowl portion structure is configured such that front and rear vibration of the cowl lower panel and so forth can be controlled (the noise and vibration performance of the vehicle can be improved) while reducing the effect that the cowl reinforcement has on the impact energy absorption performance. JP-A No. 2008-024035, JP-A No. 2009-029292, JP-A No. 2008-260331, and JP-A No. 2012-001005 disclose other related vehicle cowl portion structures.
In this connection, in recent years, designs for vehicles having a low vehicle height have been in demand from the standpoint of improving the market appeal and the fuel economy performance of vehicles. That is, there are cases in which the position where the cowl portion is installed is set relatively at the vehicle lower side. However, depending on the position where the cowl portion is installed, there are cases in which part (the upper end portion) of the cowl reinforcement is placed in the energy absorption area to prevent interference between the cowl portion and peripheral parts. In this case, the crushing of the closed cross section is suppressed by the cowl reinforcement and there is the concern that the impact energy absorption performance will be poor. Consequently, it is preferred that the vehicle cowl portion structure be configured such that a balance can be achieved between the noise and vibration performance and the impact energy absorption performance of the vehicle.